Mechanism for automatically closing fire-doors.



H. BALL.

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING FIRE DOORS.

APPLICATION rlLED1uNE13.1913.

1,257,301. Patented Feb. 26,1918.

2a. .Zfmm e fforney UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

HARRY BALL, F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMNTS, TO WORCESTER SHOCK ABSORBER C0., OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING FERIE-DOORS.

-Mechanism for Automatically Closing Fire- Doors, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawing, is a speci` cation.

My invention relates to door closing mechanism and more particularly to devices adapted to close doors automatically in case of lire, the heat from the tire acting to release certain parts of the mechanism so as to allow it to operate.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple and reliable form of automatic door closing mechanism andone which is not liable to get out of order.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic door closing mechanism which will set itself. automatically when the door is opened, which will not interfere with the manual opening and closing of the door in the usual way and which will normally hold the door in either open or closed position.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a plan ,view of a portion of an open door equipped with one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the upper portion of the door with its closing mechanism in the position shown in YFig. l; Fig. 3 is aplan view of the door and its closing mechanism shown in Fig. 1 after the closing mechanism has been released and the door closed thereby; Fig. 4 is a view of the fusible link shown in Figs. l and 3; and Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a portion of a modified form of the invention.

Like reference characters refer to similar parts in the did'erent figures.

"in the form of the invention shown in Figs. l to 4 inclusive of the drawing, the door closing mechanism is patterned largely after the usual and common form of door cheek and includes the casing 1 mounted, as usual, at the upper end of the door 2 and a short distance from the hinged edge of the door. A horizontal arm or lever 3 is carried by the upper end of a shaft 4 pivotally mounted along the vertical axis of the eas- Specication of Letters Patent.

Application med :nine 1a, 191e.

Patented Feb. 26, .1918.

Serial No. 773,385.

ing 1, the shaft 4 and the-lever 3 being actuj ated by mechanism 4 within the casing 1.

This actuating mechanism may be of any suitableY construction and, as such mechanism is commonvand well known and as it forms no part of the present invention, it 1s shown only -diagrammatically and a description of the details thereof is not deemed necessary.

rlhe free end of the lever 3 is pivotally connected to one end of a second arm 5, the other end of this second arm being pivotally attached to the wall 6 just above the doorway. 'lhis second arm 5 is adjustable in length, as usual. rlhe pin or catch 7 its slidably in the' opening 8 formed in the downwardly extending projection 9 of the arm 3. The axis of the pin 7 is parallel with the arm 3 and, when moved toward the shaft 4, the outer end of the pin 7 is adapted to engage the notch l0 in the peripheral flange i1 at the upper edge of the casing 1. rl`he inner reduced end or shank 12 of the pin 7 is supported and guided by the small cup shaped member 13 and it also ts slidably in the opening 8. A spiral spring 14 surrounds the shank 12 of the pin between the inner ends of the cup shaped member 13 and the enlarged head of the pin.

The pivot 15, extending downwardly from the arm 3, supports the lever 16. lhen this lever is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the end of its short arm presses against the cup shaped member 13 which, in turn, causes the spring 14 to hold the outer end of the pin 7 in yielding engagement with the notch 10 of the flange 11. The lever 16 is held in this operative position by a fusible or thermally operable link connected at its opposite ends to the pin 17 at the end of the long arm of the lever 16 and the pin 18'at the free end of the arm 3. rl`his fusible link may be of any desired form, the form shown being composed of two members 19 and 20 joined by fusible metal 21.

The force of the spring 14 is sutlicient to hold the pin 7 in engagement with the notch 10 when the mechanism is arranged as shown in Figs. l and 2, so that the actuating mechanism in the casing 1 cannot operate and the door will remain open. When the fusible metal 21 is melted or softened by heat from a lire and the members 19 and 20 of the link are thus disconnected, the

tendency of the actuating mechanism within the casing 1 to rotate the arm 3 about the casing causes the pin 7 to be `forced out of the notch 10, the lever 16 being now free to rotate. on its pivot so as to allow the pin 7 together with the spring 14 and the cup shaped member 13 to moveV away from the flange 11. The end of the pin 7 which engages the notch 10 is tapered and the sides of the notch converge to it the pin so that the pin may be forced out of the notch as described. The pin 7 being now forced o ut of engagement with the notch 10, the arm 3 is free to be rotated by the actuating mechanism within the casing 1 except for its attachment to the arm 5 or, in other words, the actuating mechanism is free to cause the door to close in the usual manner.

The form of the invention shown yin Fig. 5 is the same as that which has been described with the exceptionof the lever' 16 and the fusible link for holding this lever .in its operative position, and the 'same reference characters are used to indicate the same parts. In thismodiied formof -theinv'ention,I Athe pin 18 supports a washer or button`22 of fusible metal, and the free endof i the lon fusible utton so as to be held in its operaarm of thelever 23 engages this vtiveposition as shown inFig. 5. The long arm of the lever 23 is long enough to reach the fusible vbutton 22 `so as to be retained in voperative position thereby, but clears the' pin 17 'when released by melting of' the button. In both forms of the invention the spring 14 isnot much 'stronger than is necessary to maintain engagement between the pin 7 and the notch 10. y Therefore, the door may be' closedby pressing against it slightly, the sprin 14 yielding to allow the pin 7 to be force out of engagement with the notch 10. After the door has been.' moved through a slight angle suiiicient to remove the pin from the notch 10,.the actuatingV mechanlsm the softening or within the casing 1 will cause `the door to close completely, the outer end offthe pin 7 merely rubbingvlong the outer face of the 'flange 11; y en the door is again opened-'to thev position shown in Figs. 1 andl 2, the spring 14 again' forces the pm 7 into engagement with the-notch 10 so as to hold the door in its open position. My invention, therefore, provides a simple and reliable mechanism which will close an open door in case of flre and which will, at the same time, not interfere with the usual opening and closing of the door when desired.

vWhile I have shown and described the details of one form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to such details as it is obvious that certain changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; but having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure 'liy Letters Patent is:

1. he combination witha movable door, of door actuating means operable to move said door to its closed position, said actuating means having a notch movable therewith, a slidable detent ada ted to engage said notch, a spring norma ly maintaining said detent in engagement with said notch,

to prevent the operation of said door actuating means, and a thermally controlled anchor for said spring. a

. 2. The combination with a movable door, l

of door actuatin means operable to move lsaid door to its c osed position, said actuatspring. c

3. hecombination with a movable door,

of door actuating means operable to move v said door 4to its closed position, yielding means engaging said door actuatlng means to prevent the operation thereof, said yielding means adapted to be overcome when an initial closingforce, :independent of said actuating means, is 'applied'.to said door, and av thermally control ed anchor for said yielding means.- Y

Dated this ninth d ayof June1913.

, HARRY BALL. Witnesses:

PENnLoPn CoM-Bannon, NmmrnWHAmcN. 

